Many syntheses in the fine chemical and pharmaceutical industry involve the production of compounds via intermediates such as azides and peroxo compounds, which intermediates are hazardous and are therefore not very attractive from a safety point of view.
Organic amines are versatile organic compounds, and can be readily made chemically from the corresponding azides (e.g. by hydrogenation). Formation of azides as well as the handling of azides creates significant safety issues. Moreover, the organic azides itself, especially those with a high N to C ration, are intrinsically unsafe having the potential for highly exothermic decomposition (see for instance H. C. Kolb; M. G. Finn; K. B. Sharpless, Angew. Chem (2001), 40, 2021 (reference note 77) or M. Peer in Spec. Chem. (1998) 18, 256-263). During this decomposition the enormous amounts of energy liberated can cause explosions.
Organic peroxo compounds, like hydroperoxides, endoperoxides, ozonides, peroxo acids are also hazardous compounds. Organic peroxo compounds are frequently very unstable compounds, which can decompose spontaneously under explosion due to thermal or mechanical stress; for example by shock, impact, friction or by catalytic effect of impurities, which decomposition causes a(n) (large) explosion.
Although hazardous, such compounds are very interesting intermediates in the production of for example alcohols, aldehydes and acids.
So, although desired from a syntheses point of view, production, isolation and storage of hazardous intermediates such as organic peroxo compounds and organic azides is less desirable from a safety point of view.
For this reason it was the aim of the present invention to find a process for the production of compounds such as amines, alcohols, aldehydes and acids via hazardous intermediates and/or hazardous reaction conditions, which reduces safety concerns and the existence of hazardous conditions, avoiding the danger of explosions while maintaining efficiency and ease of operations.
This aim was solved according to the invention by a multi-step process, where a reactive intermediate—e.g. an organic azide or peroxo compound—is produced in a microreactor and then without isolation converted in a subsequent microreactor into the stabile product, optionally with additional intermediate conversions on the reactive intermediate.